When Indians refer to “the South”, it’s usually Tamil Nadu they’re talking about. While Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh are essentially cultural transition zones buffering the Hindi – speaking northland Kerala and Goa maintain their own distinctively idiosyncratic identities , the peninsula's massive Tamil speaking state is India’s Dravidian Hindu heartland. Traditibnally protected by distance and the military might of the southern Deccan kingdoms, the region has, over the centuries, been less exposed to northern influence than its neighbours.As a result, the three powerful dynasties dominating the South India – the Cholas, the Pallavas and the Pandyans – were able, over a period of more than a thousand years, to develop their own unique religious and political institutions, largely unmolested by marauding Muslims. The most visible legacy of this protracted cultural flowering is a crop of astounding temples, whose gigantic gateway towers, or gopuras, still soar above just about every town large enough to merit a railway station. It is the image of these colossal wedge – shaped pyramids,highabove the canopy of dense palm forests, or against patchworks of vibrant green paddy fields, which Edward Lear described as “stupendous and beyond belied”; indeed , the garishly painted gods, goddesses and mythological creatures clinging onto the towers linger in the memory of most travelers.

The great Tamil temples are merely the largest landmarks in a vast network of sacred sites – shrines, bathing places, holy trees, rocks and rivers – inter – connected by a web of ancient pilgrims routes. Tamil Nadu harbors 274 of India The great Tamil temples are merely the largest landmarks in a vast network of sacred sites – shrines, bathing places, holy trees, rocks and rivers – inter – connected by a web of ancient pilgrims routes Tamil Nadu harbors 274 o India’s holiest Shiva temples and 108 are dedicated to Vishnu. In addition, five shrines devoted to the five Vedic elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water and Ether) are to be found here, along with eight to the planets, as well as other places revered by Christians and Muslims. Scattered from the pale orange crags and forests of Western Ghats, across the fertile deltas of the Vagai and Kaveri rivers to the Coromandel coast on the Bay of Bengal, these sites were celebrated in the hymns of the Tamil saints, composed between one and two thousand years ago.Today, so little has changed that the same devotional song are still widely sung and understood in the region.

The Tamil’s living connection with their ancient Dravidian past has given rise to a strong nationalist movement. With a few fleeting lapses, one or other of the pro – Dravidian parties have been in power here since the 1950s, spreading their anti – Brahmin,anti Hindi proletarian message to the masses principally through the medium of movies.Indeed, since Independence, the majority of Tamil Nadu’s political leaders have been drawn from the state’s prolific cinema industry. Indians from elsewhere in the country love to caricature their southern cousins a “reactionary rice growers’ led by “fanatical film stars. While such stereotypes should be taken with a pitch of salt, it is undeniable that the Tamil way of life, which has evolved along a distinctive and unbroken path since prehistoric times, sets it apart from the rest of the subcontinent. This remains, after all, one of the last places in the world where a classical culture has survived into the present - India’s Holy Land”, described by Marco Polo as ‘the most splendid province in the world”.

Despite its seafront fort, grand mansions and excellence as a centre for the performing arts, the state capital Chennai is probably its least appealing destination: a scruffy,dusty,noisy city that still carries faint echoes of the Raj. Much the best place to start a temple tour is nearby Mamallapuram ( also known as Mahabalipuram), a sea side village that quite apart from some exquisite Pallava rock – cut architecture (05th to 09th centuries), boasts a long stretch of white sand beach . Inland,the pilgrimage town of Kanchipuram is filled with reminders of an illustriouspast under successive dynastic rulers, while further down the coast is one of India’s rare French colonial possessions , Pondicherry,where Auroville has found a new role as a “New Age” focal point. The road south from Pondicherry puts you back on the temple trail, leading to the tenth century Chola kingdom and the extraordinary architecture of Chidambaram, Gangaikondacholapuram, Kumbakonam and Darasuram. For the best Chola bronzes,however,and a glimpse of the magnificent paintings that flourished under Maratha rajas in the eighteenth century, travelers should head for Thanjavur.Chola capital for four centuries, the city boasts almost a hundred temples and was the birthplace of Bharatanatayam dance, famous throughout Tamil Nadu.

In the very centre of Tamil Nadu, just northwest of Thanavur,the commercial town of Tiruchirapalli (Trichy) held ome interest for the Cholas but reaches its heyday under later dynasties, when the temple complex in neighboring Srirangam become one of the South India’s largest. Among its patron were the Nayaks of Madurai, whose erstwhile capital further south, bustling with pilgrims,prists,peddlers,tailors and tourists, is an unforgettable destination.

Rameshwaram, on the long spit of land reaching towards Sri Lanka,and Kanniyakumari,at India’s southern tip (the auspicious meeting point of the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea),are both important pilgrimage centres,with the added attraction of welcome cool breezes and vistas over the sea.

While Tamil Nadu’s temples are undeniably its major attraction, it would take months to see them all, and there are plenty of other distractions for even the most ardent architecture buff. In the west of the state, where the hill stations of Kodaikanal and Ootacamund (Ooty) are the premier attractions, verdant hills offer mountain views, and a network of trails winds through forests and tea and coffee plantations.

Nearby, the teak forests of the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, as well as Tamil Nadu’s other major national park, the Indira Gandhi or Anamalai Sanctuary (Closer to Kodaikanal in the Palani hills),have been closed to visitors for several years to local terrorist activities, and coverage in this guide is necessarily limited – however, it’s worth asking at tourist offices to see if either park has reopened, and a cluster of hotels at the edge of Mudumalai provide a relaxing stopover on the route to or from Mysore. To get close to any real wildlife, you will have to head fore the coast, where areas of wetland provide perfect resting places for migratory birds, whose number soar during the winter monsoon at Vedanthangal, near Chennai, and Point Calimere.

Temperatures in Tamil Nadu , which usually hover around 30 Degree Centigrade, peak in May and June when they often soar above 40 Degree Centigrade , and the overpowering heat makes all but sitting in a shaded café exhaudting. The state is barely affected by the southwest monsoon that pounds much of India from June to September: it receives most of its rain between October and January.Cooler,rainy days bring their own problems;widescale flooding and disrupts road and rail links and imbue everything with and all pervasive dampness.

Accommodation prospects are good; all but the smallest towns and villages have something for every budget. Most hotels have their own dinning halls which, together with local restaurants, sometimes serve sumptuous thalis, tinged with tamarind and presented on banana leaves. Indigenous dishes are almost exclusively vegetarian; for North Indians or Western alternatives, head for the larger hotels or more up market city restaurants.